A man who failed to return to the State Correctional Institution at Rockview from a weekend furlough last week is still on the loose.

Vincent J. Card was furloughed to his sister's house in Philadelphia, said Jack Allar, deputy superintendent at Rockview. Card was supposed to return to the institution on his own last Monday.

"He isn't an escapee from Rockview," Allar said. "The charges are about the same but it's a very different issue."

The state police have no idea where Card may be, said Cpl. George Pelipesky of the Rockview State Police.

"He's from the Philadelphia area. Whether he's there or not we don't know," Pelipesky said. Card's sister is probably not involved, he added.

Card, 31, was sentenced to 5 to 11 years in 1987 for a Philadelphia County robbery, Allar said. Card, who is not considered dangerous, arrived at Rockview in April 1988.

His first chance for release would have been Jan. 8, 1993.

"That's all out the window now because he hasn't come back from the furlough," Allar said. "When he's returned to Rockview, I assume he'll be charged in Centre County with the criminal crime of escape. He had 4 years in. Why he didn't return is unknown to us."

The last case of an inmate failing to return to Rockview from a furlough was last September. The inmate was apprehended by Philadelphia police in November.

Rockview has a population of about 2,000 men, Allar said. In any given week, about 20 are released on furlough under a program started in the 1970s.

"The overwhelming majority come back," he said. "Occasionally we run into a situation like Mr. Card."

Inmates can only be furloughed once they have achieved the trust that they will return and have passed several reviews.

The program helps inmates resume their lives in an orderly fashion, Allar said, and is often successful. Many inmates use furloughs to secure jobs for when they are released.

"It makes a better impression when one shows up for a job interview rather than sending a letter from prison," Allar said.